Surface fitting



july 20, 1954 R E BLETCHER 2,684,082

SURFACE FITTING Filed March 9, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 20, 1954 R. E. BLETCHER 2,684,082

SURFACE FITTING Filed March 9, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Pfg. E

Patented July 20, 1954 SURFACE FITTING Ralph Edwin Bletclier, LosAngelespCalif., as'- sigr'ior of teni per cent toi-Ralph E. Bletcher, twelve "and ione-half per' cent to Ernest* H. Bucknell; twelve and. one-half per cent to MabelA Bucknell,` ten percent to Pearl White Bletcher, twenty-five per cent to Marcia Bucknell Liston, ten per cent to .lames H. Bletcher, ten per cent to HazelBl'et'chr Skinner, andteri per cent to Charlotte R; B; Robertson, also kn''wn as F. K.

Robertson l' ApplicationMarchi),` 1950, 'Serial No.148,'544i claims.

Thisy inventionrelates to 'anew and improved surface tting. n d s It frequently occurs in attaching multiple water inlet fixtures to hot and-cold water pipes" that said pipes are not properlyaligned-to be attached e to said fixtures. It is an object of this invention to provide a surface fitting wherein such vmisalig'nmnt of said pipes is compensated for.

Since it is 'frequently desirablev to disengage a fixture from the Water Supply pipes to repair or clean the parts thereof;`V it isl an object of Athis invention to'provide a surface tting which can be readily engaged or disengaged from the supply pipesin'a very short time.

In What vis now considered'the preferred ern#Y bodiment of this invention, complementary sur-VV facesare utiliz'edgeachof- 'which provided with an 'opening Vor passageway." One'offthe'se 'sur one ofthe op'enings'falls withirlthe otherop'en-ll ing whenv the' complementary! surfat'zesbearVv against one another. Pressure itie" means isl 'also providedto insure that tirez-'complementary su1"' derstood that various changeseinith'e'size; shape" or arrangement of the component parts can be resorted to without departingfrom the scope of this invention or the appended claims.

Inl the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan View of a fixture embodyingI this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe underside of-fa fixture embodying this invention; y l y Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation in section of a xture provided with a shower control valve;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View of the r:flood plates taken along line 5-'5 of- Fig. 4'

Fig.- 6 is a diagrammatic View of anordinary wash basin adapted to receive a xture'utilizing this surface fitting in amodied form;-

Fjig. 7 is a side elevationin section of the fixture i attached to the Wash basinof Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a anged nut utilizing a plug valve tocontrol flow into the fixture;

Fig. 9 is a top plan in section of 'a modiedform'm of the pressure tie means. l

Referring now to Figuresl, Zand 3,v wherein is illustrated a common household fixture adapted to 'mix horaria cord water; water" is supplied i through pipes :o aaai 2 t-the entre? 2 In this preferred embodiment of this invention the complementary surfaces which bear against onevanother maybe provided by the flanged nuts I4 and i6 and the nood plates I8 and 2B. The flanged nuts providing a surface member are suitably adapted to engage the pipes Ill and l2, which may be accomplished by a threadedconnection 22. Suitable passageways are provided to permit flow `through the iianged4 nuts, such as axial flow 'passage 24 of flanged nutl i4. An axial flow passage 26 is provided in floodplate I8 which provides the complementary surface member to permitv now through said lood'plate. Similar axial flow passages are prol--vided through'flanged nut li6 and ood plate 20.

larger than the other to lassist in compensating for the above mentioned misalignment although this is notessential to the operation ofthe surface tting. It is," of course, apparentv that the 0 ring28 can be retained in any suitable manner in either flood plate I8 or flanged nut Hl.

The now through pipe l2 into the xture is' identical tolow through pipe lil and hence will An O ring 2811s also not be described in detail. retained'between*flanged nut -l and flood plate il` to prevent leakagewhenwater is admittedV through pipel2.

After water passes-through nood plate I8 or 20 into Va suitable' chamber' -disposedbehind said-flood plates, 'it-l passes through a passageway 33 and into a mixing chamber t8.

34 to control flow from either pipe iii or l2 into the vmixing chamber in any suitable manner well known to those skilled in the art. In this fashion either hot or cold water or a mixture of the two is introduced into mixing 'chamber 3&3 and discharged through spout 49 which is attached to the mixing chamber.

'Ihe pressure tie means utilized in this embodiment, as seen in Figure is independent of the axial relationship of passages 24 yand and mayv be 'constructed `v as `hereinafter described. The "housing 42 is 'provided with suitable openings to Conventional plug valves 32 -maybe'placed'in the-chambersV permit threaded bolts 44 to pass through and nuts 46 are screwed on the bolts to secure the same to the housing. The bolts 44 are threaded at the other extremity to screw into suitable threaded recesses 41 in look plate or backing member 48. Lock plate 48 or backing member is provided with suitable openings 58 to permit the pipes I and l2 to pass through. 'Ihe flanged nuts I4 and i6 are then screwed onto the pipes l0 and l2. The flanged portions 52 of the nuts i4 and I6 are larger than the openings 58 so that when the bolts 44 are tightened the lock plate 48 will hold the flanged nuts i4 and it against the flood plates I8 and 2) which are rigidly mounted in the housing 42.

It is apparent then that either by loosening nuts 46 or by unscrewing bolts 44 from the lock plate 48 the whole fixture can be removed when, as shown in this embodiment, the flood plates i3 and 28 and mixing chamber 38 and their connecting passages 36 are rigidly connected to the housing 42. This permits replacement of the fixture or repairing of its parts with a minimum of effort and in a short interval of time.

Figures l and illustrate a multiple water inlet fixture embodying this invention and provided with a shower outlet and control valve in which the same parts, having the same functional relationship, are given the same number with the addition or" an exponent a.

It is apparent from the drawings that the xture therein illustrated is the same fixture illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, with the addition of a shower control valve and a third surface iitting providing a passage from the mixing chamber 38a to a shower outlet.

After the hot and cold water have entered the mixing chamber 38a, as has previously been described, it passes through passage 53 out spout 49a inte` a bathtub or similar receptacle. In the event it is desired to use the shower, the valve stem d4 is manually raised, seating the valve body 5S against valve seat 58, shutting olf the flow through the spout. The pressure of the water against the valve body will keep the valve seated as long as water iiows through the xture and the valve will unseat when the water entering the fixture is shut off. The ilow of hot or cold or mixed hot and cold water is then diverted through passage 60 in nood plate 62 through a suitable passage 64 in flanged nut 68, said parts being identical in construction to flanged nuts i4 and I6 and flood plates IS and 2d. A sealing O ring B8 prevents leakage in the surface fitting as the water flows through it into pipe 'l0 and out shower head l2.

The pressure tie means in this embodiment is identical in operation to the pressure tie means utilized in the xture illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3. In this fixture, however, the lock plate or backing member 48a is provided with a third opening 14 to admit pipe 'l0 but smaller than the flanged portion of nut 8S so that when the housing 42d is in position and bolts 44a and nuts 46a are tightened the lock plate 48a will retain the flanged nuts l4a, 16a and 66 against flood plates a, 25a and 62, respectively.

In either of the two fixtures described, it is a simple mattei' to remove the xture from the supply pipes to clean or repair said nature. It is, of course, necessary to shut off the water in the pipes before removing the fixture. This may be accomplished conveniently by inserting a plug valve in the flanged nuts. Referring now to Figure 8, wherein flanged nut Ma is illustrated in section, a plug valve 'I6 is controlled by eccentric 18 to open or close the flow through the flanged nut Ilia and similar valves may be inserted in the other flanged nuts heretofore described.

It is to be understood that the pressure tie means, which is independent of the axial relationship of the flow passages, may be constructed as previously described or may be of a modified type as illustrated in Figures 6 and '7 wherein like parts having the same functional relationship will be designated by the same numeral with the addition of the exponent b.

The only difference between this modiiication and the former embodiment lies in the elimination of the lock plate or backing member as a separate element. In this embodiment the lock plate or backing member is made an integral part of the wash basin 88, or similar device upon which it is desired to mount a fixture, by providing suitable openings 82 sufliciently large to permit the supply pipes to enter and sufliciently small to prevent the flanged portion of the flanged nut to pass through. Suitable threaded openings 84 are provided to receive the threaded bolts 44h. In all other respects the pressure tie means is identical to the embodiment previously described.

A further modication of the pressure tie means is illustrated in Figure 9. In this embodiment threaded nipples 86 are provided which may be cast with the lock plate or backing member 83 as illustrated or attached thereto in any suitable manner. These nipples are externally threaded to receive the water supply pipes and are provided with flow passages 98 to admit water into the iixture.

In this modification the sealing 0 ring 92 may be retained in a suitable recess in the lock plate 88 and the flanged nuts may be eliminated. The flood plates then are retained by the housing and threaded bolts which screw into the threaded recesses 94 against the openings 96 in the lock plate 88, the passage of water being similar to that on the modifications previously described.

It is to be understood that changes in the size, shape or location of the various elements do not depart from the spirit of this invention and the full scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. A surface fitting for a multiple water inlet fixture, comprising; a housing having a front wall and a rearwardly extending peripheral wall, a plurality of iirst members each having a flow passage therethrough and a coupling surface, said coupling surfaces being located within said housing, a plurality of second members each having a flow passage therethrough and a coupling surface, said coupling surfaces on said second members being complementary to coupling surfaces on said first members, a backing member associated with each of said second members, tie means extending rearwardly through the housing, said backing member being so associated with said second members and said housing being so associated with said first members that when said tie means draws said backing member and said housing together coupling is effected between the associated coupling surfaces on said first and second members.

2. A surface fitting as set forth in claim 1 wherein said backing member comprises a plate having a plurality of apertures therein, said apertures being associated respectively with said second members, each of said second members having a shoulder which engages the annular surface of said plate surrounding its associated aperture.

3. A surface fitting as set forth in claim 2 wherein said tie means comprises screws which pass through said front wall and screw threadedly engage said plate.

4. A surface fitting as set forth in claim 1 wherein said backing member comprises a plate which is integrally attached to said second meinbers.

5. A surface fitting as set forth in claim 1 wherein said backing member comprises a wall member on which it is desired to mount said multiple water inlet fixture.

References Cited in the file of this patent Number Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Bot July 9, 1907 Berry July 10, 1917 Stern Jan. 22, 1929 Glauber Oct. 8, 1929 August Jan. 14, 1930 August Apr. 15, 1930 Hollingsworth July 9, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain July 1891 

